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Sad news contained in a press release by the Belgian Asbestos Victims group (ABEVA) on December 15, 2024 was reported by several Belgian and French news outlets earlier this week. The ABEVA announcement confirmed the mesothelioma death of ABEVA President Eric Jonckheere, aged 66; four other members of his family had also died from the same cancer. See: Décès d'Eric Jonckheere, président de l'Association belge des victimes de l'amiante [Death of Eric Jonckheere, President of the Belgian Association of Asbestos Victims].

A Regional Labor Court in Rio de Janeiro ordered the São Paulo company Teadit, a producer of asbestos-containing construction materials, to pay compensation of R$1.1 million (US$179,000) to the family of a former employee who died aged 72 in 2018 from the signature asbestos cancer, mesothelioma. According to the judge: “it cannot be forgotten that the employer contributed to the illness that killed the employee, since it did not provide him with the necessary safety to perform his duties.” See: Justiça manda indenizar família de homem morto por exposição a amianto [Court orders compensation for family of man killed by asbestos exposure].

Olin, one of the few American chloralkali production companies still relying on asbestos technology, announced last week that it would be transitioning to an alternative and safer process at its facilities in Texas by the end of 2025. Olin facilities in Alabama have already ended asbestos use while plans are progressing for facilities in Louisiana to adopt non-asbestos-based processes. Earlier this year, the US government announced a deadline of 5-12 years for companies to phase out asbestos use in US chloralkali production. See: Olin to shut diaphragm chloralkali capacity that serves Dow’s Freeport PO unit.

Campaigners are calling on Australian state and territory governments to take a more active role in eradicating the asbestos hazard from the built and natural environments. Despite adopting national prohibitions on asbestos use in 2003, it’s been estimated that about 6.4 million tonnes of asbestos-containing material remains hidden within the national infrastructure. Asbestos removal is an expensive process; private individuals as well as local councils struggle to find the necessary funds for decontamination. An award-winning council scheme in New South Wales offered a $10,000 (US$6,400) incentive to cover waste fees for property owners who cleared asbestos, using qualified contractors. The feedback from the program has been, to date, positive. See: Asbestos removal stalls as uninsured home owners baulk at clean-up cost.

The Nigerian Government has announced a public-private partnership to enable the renewal and expansion of a water delivery system in Enugu State, Nigeria. According to Governor Mbah, the $100 million agreement between the state government and Austrian investors will not only provide the funding to complete the water project but will also cover the costs of replacing aging asbestos-cement water pipes with ductile pipes. Work on this project will start in January 2025. See: $100M Austrian Investment: Enugu Residents To Get Water At Minimum Cost, Mbah Assures.

On December 17, 2024 Korea’s Ministry of Environment announced that the Enforcement Decree of the Asbestos Safety Management Act and the Enforcement Decree of the Environmental Health Act had been revised. Under the new legislation, all children's centers will be designated as facilities subject to mandatory asbestos audits. In addition, asbestos safeguards are being improved so that even smaller children’s centers – those with areas of less than 50m² – will be required to conduct asbestos surveys from the end of December 2025. See: 석면·유해물 관리, 지역아동센터까지 확대…어린이 보호 [Asbestos and hazardous material management, expanded to local children's centers... Child Protection].

On December 11, 2024, the Metz Court of Appeal ordered Luxembourg steelmaker ArcelorMittal to pay €10,000 (US$10,500) in damages to 58 out of 120 former employees who were suffering from “asbestos anxiety,” having been exposed to asbestos at the company’s sites in Gandrange, Florange and Rombas. Confirming the 2022 ruling of the Thionville Labor Court, the Court of Appeal found that the 62 other claims for “asbestos anxiety” were time-barred. Lawyers representing the unsuccessful plaintiffs are considering an appeal to the Supreme Court (the Court of Cassation). See: Exposition à l'amiante: ArcelorMittal condamné pour "préjudice d'anxiété" [Asbestos exposure: ArcelorMittal condemned for “anxiety damage”].

Following the release of new asbestos disease data last week by the Japanese Government, victims’ groups in asbestos hotspots held telephone hotline sessions on December 12 & 13. In Osaka, the city with the country’s highest number of asbestos deaths (169), staff and volunteers from the Kansai Workers' Safety Center operated a free consultation service using a toll-free number between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. on those days. See: 大阪は全国最多 アスベストが原因で発症するとされる中皮腫で死亡した人 被害者支援団体が相談電話 [Osaka has the highest number of deaths from mesothelioma, believed to be caused by asbestos, in Japan; victim support group launches hotline].

A unanimous decision by the Regional Labor Court of Rio Grande do Sul, which overturned a ruling by a lower court, ordered an automotive parts manufacturer to pay compensation of 100,000 Brazilian reais (US$16,600) to a press operator who developed irreversible lung disease – interstitial pulmonary fibrosis – due to workplace asbestos exposures. The claimant had been employed by the company for 38 years. The decision can be appealed. See: Indústria de peças automotivas deve indenizar aposentado que desenvolveu doença pulmonar após mais de 30 anos de trabalho em contato com amianto [Auto parts industry must compensate retiree who developed lung disease after more than 30 years of working in contact with asbestos].

On December 12, 2024 the governing body of southern Switzerland’s Valais Canton approved plans to increase unannounced inspections for landfills located in Charrat, Riddes and Grône; noncompliance with health and safety regulations have previously been reported at all these waste sites even though landfill operators are “required to take all measures to limit the risk of emission of asbestos fibres during unloading.” The Valais Deputies also mandated that the name of prospective landfills be provided as part of the public tender process for municipal construction projects. See: Amiante: plus de contrôles inopinés dans les décharges valaisannes [Asbestos: more unannounced checks at Valais landfills].

An article published in the New England Journal of Medicine on December 7, 2024 reported findings of “acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)” in X-rays taken of two sisters who had been exposed to asbestos on their father’s work clothes. He had been employed as a thermal insulator and returned home covered in “snow-like particles.” Both of the sisters had extensive calcified plaques in both lungs and were diagnosed as suffering from secondhand childhood exposure to asbestos. See [subscription site]: Pleural Plaques from Secondhand Asbestos Exposure.

The extremely thoughtful and informed article cited below described the ongoing asbestos contradiction which exists in Brazil. Despite the fact that the production, processing and transport of asbestos was banned years ago by the Supreme Court, the Cana Brava chrysotile (white) asbestos mine – owned by SAMA Minerações (SAMA Minerals) – continues to operate in Goiás State. In contravention of national asbestos prohibitions, Goiás legislators adopted a law postponing the deadline for ending asbestos mining until 2029. See: Proíbido e cancerígeno, ainda se extrai Amianto no Brasil [Banned and carcinogenic, asbestos is still extracted in Brazil].

On December 11, 2024 Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare released the most recent data showing an increase in the number of construction and other workers certified with occupational injuries and diseases caused by workplace exposure to asbestos. There were 1,232 successful applications in 2023, which was the 13th consecutive year that the number of cases exceeded 1,000. The Ministry also published the names and locations of the businesses which had employed the injured claimants. See: アスベスト労災認定 昨年度1232人 13年連続1000人超 [Asbestos workers’ accident certification: 1,232 people last year, more than 1,000 people for 13 consecutive years].

On December 10, 2024 a major hurdle in progressing legislative efforts to bar claimants in Ohio from accessing compensation for asbestos-related diseases was overcome when the State’s House of Representatives voted to support Senate Bill 63 which, according to plaintiffs’ lawyer Shawn Acton, “will snuff out most asbestos lawsuits prematurely in the legal process.” The draft law now returns to the Senate which must approve changes made in the House. If the Senate agrees to the amendments, the bill goes to the Governor to be signed into law. See: Ohio lawmakers pass bill to make asbestos suits harder to win.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) of the South African Province of Gauteng called for urgent action to eliminate asbestos contamination of Gauteng’s 29 schools. The DA’s Chair, Mike Moriarty, demanded a timetabled response to the asbestos emergency and “greater accountability from the Gauteng Department of Education and the Department of Infrastructure Development,” neither of which accepts responsibility for the serious health risk to the 25,000 students and 700 teachers using these facilities. See: Democratic Alliance Demands Immediate Action to Eradicate Asbestos Structures in Gauteng Schools.

According to staff at the offices of the CFDT Miners trade union in the Freyming-Merlebach commune in northeastern France, the process of obtaining compensation for anxiety experienced by former miners who had been occupationally exposed to asbestos is both time-consuming and bureaucratic. Despite the administrative difficulties, in 2021 asbestos anxiety claims brought by 700 Lorraine coal miners were recognized. The outcome of similar claims for 300 other miners is pending. See: Amiante, cancers... Ils ont travaillé dans les mines et sont maladies [Asbestos, cancers... They have worked in the mines and are sick].

Against the backdrop of a continuing decrease in global asbestos consumption, work to quantify and address toxic industrial legacies was continued this year by grassroots campaigners, civil society stakeholders, national, regional and international authorities. Amongst high-profile topics debated in multiple jurisdictions were the asbestos contamination of schools, water delivery systems and the built environment; the risks posed by asbestos in personal hygiene products and cosmetics; and the unregulated and unsafe dumping of asbestos waste. Technological developments and the building of infrastructure by asbestos stakeholders made manifest their intention to continue profiting from asbestos sales despite the health hazards. It is clear that despite our many successes, much work remains to be done. [Read full article]

In light of many positive comments he has made over the last 30+ years about the efficacy of asbestos – eg. “asbestos is the greatest fireproofing material ever used” – international campaigners have been discussing what the new Presidency of Donald Trump could mean for the global asbestos dialogue. Two US experts consulted by the author of this article felt that given the small amount of asbestos used in the US now and the pending abolition of most uses, Trump would have little interest in attacking the new asbestos prohibitions being introduced. One can but hope. [Read full article]

Last week, global ban asbestos groups issued a joint press release in defence of Indonesian activists at the Independent Consumer Protection Institute (LPKSM), the Yasa Nata Budi Foundation and the Indonesian Ban Asbestos Network (INABAN) working to protect the population from deadly exposures to asbestos. In a blatant disregard for occupational and public health, the Fiber Cement Manufacturing Association – a powerful and well-resourced trade association representing the interests of the asbestos industry – is suing the campaigners for “massive damages” after a Supreme Court ruling upheld their petition to mandate labelling on asbestos products. [Read full article]

Mobilization on the asbestos hazard has been ongoing in Pacific Islands Countries and Territories for a number of years with work by personnel from the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme and partnering organizations bringing positive results, such as the 2024 ban on asbestos imports and use in the Republic of Nauru (gazetted on October 10 and 30, respectively). Significant developments in protecting populations from deadly asbestos exposures have also been achieved in Niue, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. In the shadow of the UN’s 29th Climate Change Conference, it is clearer than ever that asbestos technology is neither sustainable nor acceptable and must be banned. [Read full article]

The International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS) was founded in November 1999 by Laurie Kazan-Allen in collaboration with colleagues in North and Latin America, Asia, Europe and Australia to achieve justice for the injured and coalesce the global fight to ban asbestos. Over the next 25 years, this virtual consortium of activists organized, sponsored or participated in events and initiated or supported projects to achieve these objectives on six continents. The article marking IBAS’ 25th anniversary recalled the challenges faced, the memories amassed, the victories achieved and the setbacks faced. Input from global ban asbestos campaigners included in this review delineated the “IBAS Effect” as they experienced it. [Read full article]

On November 19 & 20, 2024, delegates from Southeast Asia, Australia and Japan convened in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for a meeting organized by the Asian Ban Asbestos Network (ABAN), its international and local partners. At the completion of the event, a joint press release was issued calling on the Malaysian Government “to urgently impose an outright ban on all types of asbestos products being manufactured in the country and halt any further imports of chrysotile asbestos fibre.” According to Malaysian trade union official David Arul, asbestos use “persists in several Malaysian industries, exposing countless workers to preventable harm.” [Read full article]

Some might think that the holding last month (October 2024) of a meeting in Russia to progress peace and stability amongst nations belonging to the BRICS coalition might be deemed inappropriate given Russia’s continuing attacks on Ukraine. Nevertheless, representatives of 35 countries and 6 international organizations turned up in droves to the 16th annual BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia. The participants were addressed by President Putin who spoke of “mutual respect,” “open dialogue,” and “sovereign policies.” A mysterious article, which appeared and disappeared after a few hours, however, revealed that Russia’s motivation for the creation and support of BRICS was totally self-serving, citing its importance in expanding foreign markets for home-grown asbestos. [Read full article]

In recent weeks there has been a flurry of media coverage in newspapers and online about various aspects of the UK’s asbestos epidemic. Simultaneously, the Daily Mail launched a campaign – Asbestos: Britain's Hidden Killer – to establish a digital national asbestos database to prevent avoidable exposures as part of “a long-term strategic plan to eradicate asbestos risk from British infrastructure.” It’s pretty damning that more than a century after the asbestos hazard was first acknowledged by the British Government, so little has been done. One can but hope that the new 335 MPs, who constitute a majority of the House of Commons, will be more proactive on this deadly workplace hazard than their predecessors. [Read full article]

Proposals to ban asbestos are currently under consideration by the Mexican Congress with a discussion of the latest draft of the Asbestos Eradication Law scheduled for October 24, 2024 in the Legislative Palace. For years medical experts and civil society groups in Mexico have been calling for action on the asbestos hazard. Now that asbestos use has dwindled to 40 tonnes/year, these calls are being acted on. The loss of the Mexican asbestos market will have less of an impact than the loss of support from Mexican asbestos stakeholders who have vigorously participated in initiatives by industry lobbyists to influence national, regional and global asbestos dialogues. [Read full article]

As the 21st century dawned, China was both the world’s second biggest asbestos-consuming (382,315 tonnes/t) and producing (315,000t) country. By 2022, however, annual usage had fallen to 261,000t (a decrease of 32%) and production to 130,000t (a 59% fall). Figures for the last few years corroborated the continued decline. The reason for this U-turn was explained in a paper published last month which stated that China’s official policy on asbestos had undergone a major shift in 2013-14; intriguingly, the co-authors gave no more information and declined to provide footnotes to substantiate this statement. This being the case, the content of another September article was in direct contrast to observed trends. Want to know more…. [Read full article]

Just when you thought you had seen it all, you realize you were wrong. The lengths to which asbestos pushers will go to continue to ride the asbestos gravy train truly knows no bounds. This year, an asbestos trade association – Indonesia’s Fibre Cement Manufacturers’ Association (FICMA) – is trialing a new legal stratagem designed to: counteract a Supreme Court ruling unfavorable to the asbestos sector and cower campaigners brave enough to challenge the industry’s dominance. The audacity of this legal manoeuvre is breathtaking and, to my knowledge, totally unprecedented. The FICMA lawsuit, which targeted the consumers’ protection organization that had petitioned the Supreme Court to mandate Government action on the asbestos hazard, is claiming substantial damages from the NGO for loss of future profits. [Read full article]

Romana Blasotti Pavesi was a member of a club that no one wanted to join; she lost her husband Mario, daughter Maria Rosa, son Ottavio, sister Libera, nephew Enrico and cousin Anna to the asbestos cancer mesothelioma. Only Mario had worked with asbestos. All the others had been exposed to carcinogenic fibers in the built environment and in the air of their home town Casale Monferrato, the municipality at the center of Italy’s asbestos epidemic. In the face of her own losses and those of so many others, Romana dedicated her life to “the fight against asbestos.” The news of Romana’s death, at the age of 95 on September 11, 2024, sparked off intensive media coverage at home and a global outpouring of appreciation from fellow campaigners. [Read full article]

In a place long forgotten by the industrial enterprises which abused its people and polluted their land, a human-made miracle is taking place. From September 2 until September 20, 2024 an asbestos taskforce is providing free health screening for 450 individuals from the towns of Bom Jesus da Serra, Poçes, Caetanos and Planalto in the Brazilian State of Bahia. The bulk of the funding for this program was allocated from money impounded by the Labor Public Ministry from penalties paid by defendants which had been convicted of failing to provide mandatory occupational protections for their workers. [Read full article]

September 3, 2024 marked a turning point in the 30-year French battle for asbestos justice. A struggle to hold to account some of the people responsible for the country’s deadly asbestos epidemic collapsed when the Court of Cassation (Supreme Court) issued a ruling upholding a 2023 dismissal by the Paris Court of Appeals of criminal charges against executives of the country’s biggest asbestos group: Eternit. This was the latest in a series of defeats faced by asbestos victims and their legal representatives. More than a hundred years after Labor Inspector Denis Auribault reported excess mortality of asbestos workers in a textile factory in Condé-sur-Noireau, Calvados, French courts continue to fail the victims. Shame on them! [Read full article]

Until the 1970s, Canada was the world’s largest asbestos producer with mines in Quebec, British Columbia and Newfoundland. Although it was soon to be overtaken by output from mines in Soviet Russia, Canada remained the global asbestos cheerleader for decades to come. The price paid for Canada’s asbestos profits included lives shortened and families shattered. A national epidemic of asbestos-related diseases, discoveries of asbestos material contained within the national infrastructure and the perennial problem of what to do with huge mountains of asbestos mining waste continue long after the asbestos cash flow evaporated. [Read full article]

An insightful podcast broadcast on the BBC this summer raised the profile of the hazard posed by the presence of talc in make-up, cosmetics and personal hygiene products in the UK. The first 14-minute episode of “Talc Tales” – part of the How They Made Us Doubt Everything series – featured the case of British woman Hannah Fletcher, who was diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma at the age of 41. Ms. Fletcher believed that she contracted the signature asbestos cancer as a result of exposures to toxic talcum powder. Spurred by this allegation, podcaster Phoebe Keane submitted the contents of her make-up bag for analysis. The results, which were delivered in the last of the five episodes, validated the ongoing hazard posed by the use of talc in cosmetics. [Read full article]

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Demonstration in Woluwe Park, Brussels, 2006

Under cloudy skies, members of Belgian and French Asbestos Victims' Associations from Dunkirk and Bourgogne marched side-by-side in the third annual demonstration organized by ABEVA, the Belgian Association of Asbestos Victims. Erik Jonckheere, ABEVA's Co-chairman, condemned the government which still refuses to recognize the plight of the asbestos injured.

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